Jacob reese



(No Model.)

J. REBSE.

FIRE ESCAPE.' No. 278,8/2(`)(\^-\ Patented June 5,1883.

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N. mils. MLlholnnh- VII-apen. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

FIRE- ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,820, dated June 5, 1883,

Application filed Muy 3. 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB REEsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in' the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of this invention is to aid the escape of persons from burning buildings when escape by the ordinary stairways is cut oif by the fire. This object is secured by providing means of awire connection between each story o room of `a building with the street below, by which awire or other ladder may be drawn up and on which the persons may escape.

In describing the invention reference will be made to the drawings, in which Figure l is a house on fire. Fig. 3 is a sectional enlarged view of awooden dart. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal view of same. Fig. 5 is a view of the wire-reel as apart from the gun. Fig. 6 is an end view of the back end of the dart.

My invention consists in the hereinafter-described means for projecting a wire or cord from the street below into any window of a house while the latter is on fire.

When the reman arrives at a building which is on fire and escape is cut oii' by the stairway and no wire reels are to be found by the inmates, then the reman immediately warns the persons in the burning building to stand away from the window. He then shoots the wire into the room and attaches the ladder to the lower end. The person in the building then draws up the ladder and fastens itat the top, when a person may go up or come down.

The wirefshooting gun is of somewhat larger bore than the ordinary gun, and provided with Fig. 2 is a wire-shooting gun.l

described.

a wire reel attached to the barrel; or the reel may be placed on the ground. The dart is made of wood, of suicient length to ll the bore and to project a short distance beyond the muzzle. The dart is grooved on its lower side, c, so as to allow thewire which is attached to its lower end to be drawn into the gun, as at d. The lower end of the dart is bored out, as at e, for the reception of the powder or cartridge. When the gun is red, the dart f is forced out, and the wire is .drawn with it from the reel g. It will thus be seen that a wire connection may be instantly made with any room of a burning building and the loss of life avoided.

The advantages of this method of life-saving from burning buildings are that it dispenses with the costly cumbersome outside ladder and the liability for thieves and burglars to enter the buildings thereby; second, the communication may be made instantly with dry wire and a dry ladder; but with outside permanent ladders, in wet and freezing weather,

`such means is very dangerous; third, the apparatus is simple and comparatively inexpensive, as the cost of the wire will not be over one cent per foot, and, if desired, a strong twine may be used instead of wire. Having described my invention, what I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the gun, of the dart f, provided with longitudinal groove c and cartridge-chamber e, and the reel g, wound with wire, the free end of which wire is attached to the dart, substantially as and for the purposes JACOB REESE. Witnesses:

T. D. CARNAHAN,

W. S. REEsE. 

